Lazarus, Come Out!

Coming to Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus feels the deepest emotions and begins to weep. This is God entering into the darkness and confusion and agony of the death of sinners. He doesn’t blithely stand above our situation, but rather takes it on and feels it.

But then, like a warrior, he approaches the enemy. “Take away the stone,” he directs. Those who are stuck within the confines of this world protest, “Lord, surely there will be a stench.” They are saying, “Don’t mess with death; you can’t reverse it. Its power is final.”

Jesus is undaunted. He commands, “Lazarus, come out!” This is the voice, not simply of a hopeful human being, not simply of a great religious figure; this is the voice of God who hates death and has dominion over it. And therefore “The dead man came out.” 

Jesus finally says, “Untie him and let him go free.” Just as he freed Lazarus, so Jesus liberates us from our thralldom to death.

- Bishop Robert Barron

This is from Day 19 of Bishop Barron’s Lenten daily readings. 

Lent - “Not by bread alone..."

This is why Jesus responds: “Scripture has it, ‘Not on bread alone shall man live” (Matthew 4:4). Life means so much more than sensual pleasure. Love, loyalty, relationship, family, moral excellence, aesthetic pleasure, and the aspiration after God are all so much more important.
- Bishop Robert Barron

---------------------------------------

The above quote is from Bishop Barron’s Lenten reflections, Day 5. The reading for the day was about Jesus’ temptation as recorded in the book of Matthew.

His brief summary of Jesus’ words, “Not on bread alone shall man live” captures the meaning quite well. Look at the list of some good things that give life true meaning.

All of those things also appeal to the senses - to the whole person - but in ways that honor God.

My words will not pass away.

Here is a meditation based on the Biblical phrase “My words will not pass away.”

It was written by a monk who lived over 800 years ago, but his words are appropriate for our day.

Notice the short definition of Christian meditation. It is not an emptying of the mind, but rather this.:

“...a studious activity of the mind, probing the knowledge of some hidden truth under the guidance of your own reason.” 

It is like mining a passage for the jewels contained in it. It involves study and the use of your own reason. Study also implies reading what others have said about the passage. A person is supposed to think, think, think guided by the message of the written word.

Then you turn your thoughts to prayers.

Contemplation is kind of like meditation, worship, and prayer combined. It is like Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to Him teach. (Luke 10:38-42) *

--------------------------------------------------

Reading is a directing of the mind to a careful looking at the Scriptures. Meditation is a studious activity of the mind, probing the knowledge of some hidden truth under the guidance of your own reason. Prayer is a devout turning of the heart of God to get ills removed or to obtain good things. Contemplation is a certain elevation above itself of the mind which is suspended in God, tasting the sweetness of the life of blessedness, meditation locates it, prayer asks for it, contemplation tastes it. Reading, as it were, puts the solid food into our mouths, meditation chews it and breaks it down, prayer obtains the flavor of it, and contemplation is the very sweetness which makes us glad and refreshes us...

Meditation begins to consider how glorious and delightful it would be to see the long-desired face of the Lord. 

I sought your face, O Lord, your face, O Lord, have I sought. I have long meditated in my heart, and in my meditation a fire grew and a desire to know you more. While you break the bread of Sacred Scripture for me, you have come to be known to me in the breaking of bread, and the more I know you, the more I long to know you, no longer in the husk of the letter, but in sensed experience. 

Guigo II

Guigo II (t 1188) was a Carthusian monk and the prior of the Grande Chartreuse Monastery in France. 
-------------------------------

* Luke 10:38-42New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing.[a] Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Mary

I have not written anything here since I became Catholic, I don’t think. Maybe some of the things I wrote about Mary in the writings of the Reformers was after Easter Vigil.

I cleaned up my blogs quite a bit, which I often do anyway. See, this is kind of where I write out what I am thinking about at the time. After awhile, I am done with a lot of it. So I go through and keep a few things that I still like.

What do I think about Mary now? I am Catholic. What can I say?  Why was the teaching of the Church about Mary suppressed by Protestants?  I can only speculate as to why.

Especially the teaching of the Church about Mary being like the Ark of the Covenant, and Mary being the 2nd Eve.

The parallels are impossible to miss, yet those teachings were pretty much written out of Protestantism.

Yes, and praying the Rosary has become an important part of my devotional life. My understanding of the life of Christ has grown.

Many times I have taught the life of Christ to children. I have read the Gospels too many times to even count.

Praying the Rosary kind of slows one's thoughts down, helping a person to contemplate the wonder, the mystery of Christ’s life. A person is invited to see the life of Jesus through the eyes of His mother.  The artwork that is used to help in this exercise is filled with meaning, telling a story. Each detail is packed with little symbols and signs that point to the reality of Christ’s Incarnation and the role that Mary played in that. Without her, there would have been no Jesus.

Think about it. No, that doesn’t mean she is more important than Christ. Catholics do not worship Mary. However, Mary is what makes Jesus Christ human. That is a huge deal.

I know that Protestants will take offense at this.  Not long ago I would have taken offense, so I can’t blame anyone for that.

Ash Wednesday

Well, Lent this year kind of got off to a bad start with me.  I missed the Ash Wednesday service, which makes me kind of sad.  It is not an obligation to go to the Ash Wednesday service, but still. It is a special time with God as we enter into the desert of Lent.

What I enjoy about the Catholic Church is how the Gospel isn’t  just read. It is dramatized throughout  the liturgical year. The 40 Days of Lent are reminiscent of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the Wilderness being tempted by the devil.

It’s not like we shouldn’t resist temptation all the time. It’s just that Lent is a special time of focusing on our spiritual need and dryness, our sin and need of God’s mercy. We give up legitimate pleasures in order to focus on our spiritual lives.

Here is what one Fr. says about Ash Wednesday.

"On Ash Wednesday, we accept a mark of ashes on our forehead, a mark that will distinguish us publically as sinners.  What we know privately about ourselves we show to the world.  But that we are sinners is not the only truth that we display.  The mark of ashes is a sign to the world that we have received something extraordinary and undeserved from the Lord Jesus.  What have we received?  A word of forgiveness that is creative, living and effective, which if accepted, gives to us and to the world, what we need most- the gift of a new start and the unexpected grace of another chance.”
-  Fr. Steve Grunow

Father Steve Grunow is the CEO of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

Ash Wednesday is a time of public confession of oneself as a sinner. It is also a public confession of Christ, the One who forgives sinners.

It is a time to reflect on the fact that we are but dust, and to dust we will return. 

It is a time to recognize our need and our poverty. 

It is a time to recognize that God is merciful, able and willing to forgive us and cleanse us. 

It is a time to recognize our need for beauty and life. All found in God. 

It is a time to accept God’s grace in Christ.

Here is a beautiful, short film about the meaning of Ash Wednesday.

Theologizing

Arguing theology in the first place is wrong.   Theologizing should be a joint effort to bring each other closer to God, to quiet our minds and our fears. 
- TVD

True, dat.  

Mozart and Elvis

...and a bit about Mozart’s Catholicism. This is from Wikkepedia, but it seems to have been well researched and unchallenged.

He seems to have been a practicing Catholic.


"Mozart himself believed in regular religious Catholic practices and the need for the sacraments of the church. He was nevertheless less harsh than his father with fasting. He did not consider eating meat on fast days as a great sin but charged that "for me fasting means holding back eating less than usual".[21]

In his letter he wrote his father (Mannheim, 2 February 1778):

I have always had God before my eyes, ... I know myself, and I have such a sense of religion that I shall never do anything which I would not do before the whole world; but I am alarmed at the very thoughts of being in the society of people, during my journey, whose mode of thinking is so entirely different from mine (and from that of all good people). But of course they must do as they please. I have no heart to travel with them, nor could I enjoy one pleasant hour, nor know what to talk about; for, in short, I have no great confidence in them. Friends who have no religion cannot be long our friends.[22][23]”

Of course he could have said this to please his father. It is also possible that his “bad boy” image has obscured the fact of his intense personal faith. People are hardly ever one or the other - either perfectly pious or totally given over to indulgences of the flesh. He could not have written the great amount of music he wrote in his short life if he had been totally given to debauchery. Even so, he did have his interesting character flaws, that’s for sure. Most interesting people have some pretty obvious flaws as well.

I don’t think he could have shown such devotion in his religious works if he hadn’t had a strong faith himself. Listen to his Ave verum corpus or his Magnificat or his Requiem - especially the Lacrimosa, which does make me cry - and maybe you will see what I mean.

Here’s further explanation of his religious feelings.


"Trying to characterize Mozart's religious beliefs, Halliwell writes, "An educated guess at the totality of Mozart's beliefs based on reconciling the motley evidence would probably posit a broad belief in Christianity, but impatience with many of the requirements of the Catholic church."[20] MacIntyre suggests that Mozart "seems to have been a freethinking Catholic with a private relationship to God."[24]”


The article explains how Mozart could have been both a faithful Catholic and a Freemason.

"Freemasonry was banned by the Catholic Church in a Papal Bull entitled In eminenti apostolatus issued by Pope Clement XII on 28 April 1738. The ban, however, "was published and came into force only in the Papal States, Spain, Portugal, and Poland."[14] It was not promulgated in Austria, where Mozart lived, until 1792 (after Mozart's death). Hence, although the Catholic Church's opposition to Freemasonry would eventually become known in Austria, during Mozart's lifetime "a good Catholic could perfectly well become a Mason," and it is clear that Mozart saw no conflict between these two allegiances.[15]”

So, anyway. There have been various theories about what actually took Mozart’s life at such a young age - only 35. The man wasn’t a Puritan.

https://www.themedicalbag.com/story/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart

Okay, so I am going to make a tacky connection to Elvis. If someone looks only at a person’s behavior in some areas of their life, one may miss what really drives them, what really inspires them to greatness. Sometimes you have to look deeper to see that. You may have to look past what is on the surface to see who they really are.

I had always loved Mozart, but I came to appreciate Elvis much later in life. How did I come to appreciate Elvis? It was through his interpretations of Gospel music that I saw the real Elvis. Well, maybe the bad boy Elvis was also the real Elvis. However, I say that it was his love of God that inspired him as much as it was his love of fame and fortune.

In a way, I have been a performer for most of my life. No, not like Elvis or Mozart, of course. I am not famous - except I do have a small following, some fans who love me and write to me almost daily. So, in a small way I understand what it is like to have an audience and a following.

Well, not here on my blog. Mostly I just talk to myself here, but there are some who stop by. So, howdy to anyone who reads this.

It is a burden in a way to have fans and an audience. A person with followers feels the pressure to love and be loved. He or she feels the pressure to be what the fans want them to be. So, it is easy to kind of rebel against that in other ways - to try to prove that they should not be idolized and followed around as though they were something special.

On the other hand, there is the issue of pride and ego. The performer also wants to be idolized. It gets complicated. It’s even worse when a person is a performer from childhood, as Mozart was.


Anyway, that’s kind of weird to talk about Mozart and Elvis in the same sentence. I’m probably wrong. It’s a heart thing, I guess. I just see deep, religious faith driving both of them, inspiring them.  Because of their bad behavior in other ways, it is easy to miss the fact of their deep love and devotion to God.

Of course, Mozart’s genius was far greater and of a different quality than that of Elvis. So, why are they kind of connected in my mind?  Why do I feel identified with both of them?

Yeah, I’m a little weird, I guess.

St. John Chrysostom’s Homily on Christmas Morning

It’s a little late for Christmas, but this Christmas homily is worth reading. It is breathtaking in its beauty. Notice the way that St. Chrysostom helps us focus on the mysteries and paradoxes of the Christmas story.

Notice that Heaven and earth are said to become as one with the birth of Christ. "On every side things comingle," he said. God did not become God on that night. He was already God. God became flesh,  the wonderful saint reminds us.

 "This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not."

"Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been ‘in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels."

"Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle."

Why did He become flesh? God entered into out confusion and made a clear way for us to come to Him. Chrysostom concludes with this statement.:

"To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, we offer all praise, now and for ever. Amen."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

St. John Chrysostom’s Christmas Homily

BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice. And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, He had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God. This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Since this heavenly birth cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit of too curious scrutiny. Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence and I accept that this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech. For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him who works.

What shall I say to you; what shall I tell you? I behold a Mother who has brought forth; I see a Child come to this light by birth. The manner of His conception I cannot comprehend.

Nature here rested, while the Will of God labored. O ineffable grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us he may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.

Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, builds for Himself a living temple, and as He had willed, formed there a man from the Virgin; and, putting Him on, this day came forth; unashamed of the lowliness of our nature’. For it was to Him no lowering to put on what He Himself had made. Let that handiwork be forever glorified, which became the cloak of its own Creator. For as in the first creation of flesh, man could not be made before the clay had come into His hand, so neither could this corruptible body be glorified, until it had first become the garment of its Maker.

What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.

For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit, that He may save me.

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been ‘in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things arc nourished, may receive an infant’s food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, we offer all praise, now and for ever. Amen.

St. John Chrysostom

St. John Chrysostom is a Church father that is often quoted.  He is one of those saints that is loved and venerated by pretty much all of Christendom. Even Protestants admire him and accept him as a great teacher and preacher of the Gospel.

He is one of the first Church fathers that I began to read and appreciate. His series of homilies compiled as a little book, - On Marriage and Family Life - are surprisingly applicable to today’s realities. People don’t really change all that much. The kinds of problems that marriages faced in the 4th Century are similar to our own. So even though these were preached way back in the early centuries of the Church, they still speak.

He did not use the term “complementary”, but he certainly lays out what we would call the complementary nature of the husband - wife relationship. He also shows the balance and even equality that married people should seek to live out in their lives.

I spent quite a few years studying both egalitarianism and complementarianism in their Protestant forms. While I still believe that complementarian is the more natural way that men and women interact, especially in marriage and the Church, there is also a strong element of mutuality.

It seems to me that Chrysostom understood both complementarity and mutuality in a way that few have. Why was that? Well, he was good friends with a woman named Olympias, who is also a saint. Read a short biographical sketch of this amazing woman at the website, Saints and Angels, St. Olympias. 

In a way, she was more than a close friend. She was his mentor in matters of marriage and family life.

The fine translation of On Marriage and Family Life  is done by  Catherine P. Roth and David Anderson. The introduction to the homilies with some historical and linguistic background is almost worth the price of the book.


The epithet Χρυσόστομος (Chrysostomos, anglicized as Chrysostom) means "golden-mouthed" in Greek and denotes his celebrated eloquence.^[2][7]

That is a quote from the Wikkepedia article about St. John Chrysostom.

You will be happy if you read some of his homilies. They will help you get in touch with the Church through the ages. Yes, she has to adapt and grow, but always in the same direction - towards the Beatific Vision.

The Christian Classics Etherial Library has many entries for his works. Browse and be happy!

Why Catholic?

II. As I read from the writings of the early Church fathers, I came to a startling realization. They were all Catholic. Both the Greek Fathers and the Latin Fathers all shared the same approach to Scripture, the Sacraments, healing, miracles,  ecclesiology, Biblical interpretation, the sacrifice of the Mass, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the veneration of the saints, the use of holy relics, and so many other things.

I came to see that the theologians I trusted the most were indeed Catholics. Well, or Orthodox.

I mean, they were nothing like Protestants. It is as though Protestants and other non Catholic Christians took what they wanted from Catholicism, trashed their Mother - the Church - and didn’t even say thank you.

I hope to provide some quotes to back up what I say,  in hopes that others will look for themselves.

Jesus, the Prophet

Jer 1:4-5, 17-19

The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day
who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,
against the whole land:
against Judah’s kings and princes,
against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
------------------------------------------

 Lk 4:21-30

Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.

------------------------------------------------------------

These passages impressed me once again when I read them on Sunday, January 31, 2016. They are from the Daily Readings - the daily readings for Mass. Watch the brief video reflections if you wish.  Fr. Greg Friedman, OFM always gives a good reflection. 

We were in Nazareth in the fall of 2014 and saw the church Fr. Friedman mentions, as well as the hill that is much like the brow of the hill where the townspeople tried to throw Jesus down to His death. 

Fr. asks the question, “What makes a prophet?”   They often provoke people, making them uncomfortable. We can see in the Luke 4 passage that Jesus did, indeed, make people feel uncomfortable. 

Elijah and Elisha were rejected and threatened by their own people and were then sent to Gentiles. The parallels are striking. 

He mentioned a quote from a Christian writer who said,  "There is no evidence to suggest that anyone ever asked a prophet home for supper more than once.”  We can see from the Gospel passage how the people in Jesus' own hometown reacted to His provocative words. He thus established Himself in the office of Prophet. Jesus  is Prophet, Priest, and King.

Fr. Friedman then spoke of how Pope Francis has annoyed and upset many by saying shortly after his election, “How I would like a Church that is poor and for the poor.”  

Fr. Friedman then challenged us to pray for the grace to accept these prophetic words in this Jubilee Year. 

See, the Catholic Church wants us to focus on God’s mercy in this year. Well, not just in this year, but in this year to keep our focus on mercy. 

As I said, this passage impressed me once again, and the reflection shared by Fr. Friedman was spot on. 

If you want to know more about the Catholic Church, then a good way is to sign up for the Daily Readings at the website of the USCCB. That way you can follow her thought the liturgical year as you read and meditate on the Scriptures and listen to the brief reflections videos. 

Some of the reflections are better than others, but most of them are very good.  Some are outstanding. Fr. Friedman is always great. He can pack a lot of information and exhortation into just a couple of minutes.